Continental intercalaire

The Continental intercalaire, sometimes referred to as the Continental intercalaire Formation, is a term applied to Cretaceous strata in Northern Africa.^[1] It is the largest single stratum found in Africa to date, being between 30 and 800 metres (100 and 2,600 ft) thick in some places. Fossils, including dinosaurs, have been recovered from this formation.^[2] The Continental intercalaire stretches from Algeria, Tunisia and Niger in the west to Egypt and Sudan in the east.^[3][4]

Continental intercalaire
Stratigraphic range: Albian–Cenomanian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological formation
Overlies	Paleozoic rocks (often Carboniferous in age)
Thickness	30 to 800 metres (100 to 2,600 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone, claystone, conglomerate
Location
Region	Northern Africa

History

Fernand Foureau was the first to excavate fossils from the Continental intercalaire in Djoua, Algeria in 1893,^[1] and Léon Pervinquière studied the Continental intercalaire in Tatouine, Tunisia in 1912.^[5][6]

The Continental intercalaire was later identified during the course of several expeditions to the Sahara from 1946 to 1959 which were led by the French paleontologist Albert-Félix de Lapparent.^[1][7]

Description

The Continental intercalaire is most often likened to the Kem Kem Group in Morocco.^[8] It likely represents fluviatile facies, suggesting an environment with many rivers and streams.^[9]

Fossil content

Archosaurs

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs of the Continental intercalaire

Genus	Species	Location	Material	Notes	Images
Aegyptosaurus[8]	A. baharijensis	Egypt Iguallala, Niger	Vertebrae, thoracic rib fragment, and two metatarsals (Niger); caudal vertebrae (Egypt)[1]
Bahariasaurus[8][1]	B.ingens	Niger	Six vertebrae
"Brachiosaurus"[8]	"B" nougaredi	Taouratine, Algeria	Partial sacrum and left forelimb	Previously believed to be discovered from the Late Jurassic-age Taouratine Series. Likely does not belong as a species of Brachiosaurus and may represent multiple sauropod species.
Carcharodontosaurus[8]	C. saharicus	Timimoun, Algeria El Rhaz, Niger In Abangarit, Niger Guermessa, Tunisia	164 teeth, several vertebrae, partial humerus, and a metatarsal[1]	Collection of multiple specimens with teeth found at all four localities.
	cf.C.sp		Fragmentary remains[2]
Coelurosauria[1]	Coelurosauria indet.	Morocco	Left tibia and a "large" femur	Similar to cf. Elaphrosaurus from Egypt.
		In Abangarit, Niger In Tedreft, Niger	16 vertebrae, left humerus, right ulna, left pubis, femur, right tibia (In Abangarit material); 3 damaged vertebrae, sacrum, 3 hand claws, right tibia, isolated tibia, metatarsal, 4 phalanges (In Tedreft material)	Previously known as Elaphrosaurus gautieri and is a collection of multiple specimens.
		Ebrechko, Niger El Rhaz, Niger Ifayen Ignère, Niger In Abangarit, Niger	49 teeth, 8 caudal vertebrae, a hand claw, a damaged right femur, and a tibia	Previously known as Elaphrosaurus iguidensis and is a collection of multiple specimens.
Dinosauria[10]	Dinosauria indet.	Djoua, Algeria	Fragments	Discovered by Fernand Foureau in 1893.
Dinosauria[11]		Tilemsi, Mali	"Large bones"	Only ever mentioned in passing.
Iguanodontia[8]	Iguanodontia indet.	Kanboute, Tunisia	Upper right maxillary tooth[1]	Previously described as belonging to Iguanodon mantelli. Discovered on 15 January 1951.
Inosaurus[12][13]	I. tedreftensis	In Tedreft, Niger	Two dorso-lumbar vertebrae, two smaller vertebrae, two fused sacral vertebrae, five middle or posterior caudal vertebrae, seven caudal vertebra fragments, left proximal tibia.	Includes the holotype specimen.
Megalosauroidea[14][15]	Megalosauroidea indet.	Timimoun, Algeria	Two teeth	Discovered by Captain Burté.
Nigersaurus[citation needed]	N. taqueti
Paralititan?[8]	P. stromeri?			May instead be Aegyptosaurus
Rebbachisaurus?[1]	R.? tamesnensis	Aoulef, Algeria Djoua, Algeria In Salah, Algeria Timimoun, Algeria Ebrechko, Niger El Rhaz, Niger Ifayen Ignère, Niger Iguallala, Niger In-Gall, Niger Tébéhic, Niger Ténéré, Niger Tiguidi, Niger Guermessa, Tunisia	Two humeri and two femora, and a second specimen composed of four isolated teeth, a dentary fragment with three teeth, over 100 vertebrae, six chevrons, 12 ribs, 5 scapulae, an ilium, two ischia, and numerous limb elements	May not belong to Rebbachisaurus.
Ornithopoda[8]	Ornithopoda indet.			Multiple species
Sauropoda[1][8]	Sauropoda indet.	In Gall, Niger	Two vertebrae	Previously referred to Astrodon.
Sauropoda[16]		Ibelrane, Mali	Vertebra
Stegosauria[1]	Stegosauria indet.	In Abangarit, Niger	Dermal plate
Spinosaurus[8]	S. aegyptiacus	Egypt Morocco	Abundant teeth and postcranial remains	Used to help date the age of the Continental intercalaire; 94% of theropod teeth in the Continental intercalaire belong to Spinosaurus. Relatively rare in Algerian strata.[9]
	cf. S. sp	Kénadsa, Algeria Menaguir, Algeria Egypt Morocco Tunisia	Abundant teeth and postcranial remains
Theropoda[8][1]	Theropoda indet.	Zarzaïtine, Algeria	Two teeth	Previously placed within Teratosaurus. May be referrable to ?Megalosauridae.
Titanosauria[17]	Titanosauria indet.	Mali		Represents a distinct species current found only in Mali.[17]

Reptiles

Reptiles of the Continental intercalaire

Genus	Species	Location	Material	Notes	Images
Reptilia[18]	Reptilia indet.	Marandet, Niger	Indeterminate remains

Crocodylomorphs

Crocodylomorphs of the Continental intercalaire

Genus	Species	Location	Material	Notes	Images
Sarcosuchus[8]	S. imperator[7]
Sissokosuchus[19]	S. maliensis		A partial dentary tip, parts of the maxilla, and several cranial elements.	A sebecian notosuchian.

Fish

Fish of the Continental intercalaire

Genus	Species	Location	Material	Notes	Images
Hybodontidae[9]	Hybodontidae indet.	Menaguir, Tunisia	Fin spine fragment[9]
Mawsonia[20]		Algeria Tunisia		(several species)[20]
Onchopristis[8]	O. numida (or numidus)	Algeria[8]		Includes specimens previously known as Gigantichthys numidus.[10]

Trace fossils

Trace fossils of the Continental intercalaire

Genus	Species	Location	Material	Notes	Images
Ophiomorpha[9]	Ophiomorpha sp.	Menaguir, Tunisia
Skolithos[9]	Skolithos sp.	Menaguir, Tunisia
Thalassinoides[9]	Thalassinoides sp.	Menaguir, Tunisia

See also

• Paleontology portal

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations